During his lifetime, Johann Schantz (1762-1828) was considered the most important and respected piano maker in Vienna alongside Anton Walter and Nannette Streicher. His instruments were widely appreciated by musicians and composers, including explicitly by Haydn and Beethoven. One of his early fortepianos were integrated into the collection of old musical instruments at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in 1939 from private ownership due to the fact that it could not be restored without considerable investment. There it was painstakingly restored in several phases and finally brought to it's present, playable condition in 2009. On this recording, pianist Richard Fuller, renowned for his decades-long involvement with historical instruments, presents this fortepiano with the Sonatas for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:31 (1776) and E-flat major, Hob. XVI:49 (1790) by Joseph Haydn. The collaboration with the soprano Karoline Pilcz demonstrates that this instrument has unique sound characteristics not only as a solo instrument but also as an accompanying instrument. The Arette italiane, Op. 31 (1790) and the Cantata in Honor of Marie Theresie Paradis (1784) by Leopold Kozeluch also date from the time of the instrument's creation, as is characteristic of this KHM edition.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Karl Goldmark was one of the most popular and frequently performed Central European Romantic composers until the Nazi Regime in the 1930's. The ostracism of his work continued after World War II, until finally at the end of the 20th century slowly a selective rediscovery of his oeuvre took place. With this release Thomas Albertus Imberger continues to ending this oblivion of Goldmark's manifold work.

On his new album Colombian-born pianist Pablo Rojas presents piano music from five Latin-American countries. These diverting pieces tell of the history of South America, Spanish and Portuguese reign and the incorporation of Indigenous and African culture. Adding to works by the popular Ginastera and Piazzolla, Rojas discloses a world of gems by lesser known composer like Luis Calvo, Ernesto Nazareth, Ernesto Lecuona, Ignacio Cervantes, Carlos Vieco, Horacio Salgan or Gerry Weil. They stand for a wonderful mixture of most diverse influences and styles and reflect folklore from the Andes and Argentinian tango as well as dances and waltzes from Cuba, Colombia and Brasil, while at the same time roaming the border to jazz. Pablo Andres Rojas De Los Rios, who was born in Pasto, Colombia completed his piano studies at the Universidad de Antioquia, where he graduated with distinction. Pablo came to Vienna in order to study piano pedagogy at the Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst. Pablo has performed as a soloist with the Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota, the Symphonic Orchestra of Barranquilla, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Medellin, and the Symphonic Orchestra of Yucatan. As an orchestral musician Pablo has played with, among others, the Tonkunstler Orchester Niederosterreich. As well as classical music Pablo also devotes himself to folklore and the popular rhythms of his culture of origin for instance in the duo Barembuem-Rojas, which explores the essence of the Argentinea tango as folk music.

The trumpet has been playing a special role as a signaling instrument throughout the centuries and accompanies mankind through war and peace. Consequentially, one associated the brilliant sound of the trumpet with the power and pomp of clerical and secular authorities. The current program of the Schwanthaler Trumpet Consort contains a representative sample of 17th-18th c. trumpet court literature. Besides trumpets, also timpani, percussion, clarinets, trombones and post horns are involved; replicas of historic instruments are paired with historically informed performance practice.

2017 marked the 180th anniversary of the birth of Queen Elisabeth of Austria. A widely unknown fact is that "Sisi," as she was called by close friends and family, was a gifted poet, and that she provided for her lyrical work that it only be published decades after her passing. Elisabeth felt misunderstood by her fellow human beings. She became unpopular among the populace and at the court due to her many absences from Austria, and placed her entire hope in so-called "future souls" to whom she addressed her verses. In 2016, Viennese soprano Nina Bernsteiner inquired the internationally acclaimed - especially for his lied compositions - Austrian composer Albin Fries to set seventeen of Sisi's most beautiful poems to music. The result is presented on this release. Nina Bernsteiner has sung 60 roles in her career to date, and regularly presents song recitals and performs solo parts in oratorios and symphonies. Her concertising has taken her to nearly all of Europe, as well as China, Russia, and South Korea.

Classical Music